Hey guys…
Please understand that English is not my first language.
But I need some advice cause I’m not in a great situation right now.
Here’s the story.
I’m in a boarding school that is not so great. It has terrible math/science teachers with harsh graders. There are drug addicts, aholes, and deadwood teachers.
Btw I’m Asian and Green Card holder.
I am not an Asian math genius because I’m not that smart and our family moved here since 5th grade.
We have been living places around the country including New England and Florida.
Yes, I am not a diligent Asian kid.
Well I survived in the high school despite all the sts happened. Now it’s a senior year for me in two weeks.
I went to public middle school in Deep South and then a private boarding school in New England which is a terrible combination. I aced in the middle school and now it turned out to be good old days.
It took a lot of pain in the butt for me to get adjusted to boarding school.
I got really messed up in this boarding school.
Part of it was my fault and part of it was due to terrible school life. I don’t want to explain those negative experiences here but I do plan to write in college essays to let them know what happened.
For example, I had an argument with a guy in the dorm until 12AM. It was few days before the SAT.
Now I see psychiatrist often to check in with her. I do take prescribed anti depressant from the hospital.
I got lot better than last year.
I got mad at my parents because they won’t let me switch schools.
Well now they don’t pressure me to go to excellent schools like a typical asian parents anymore. They just want me to get a decent job after college.
My Freshman year GPA out of 4.0 was 2.7, Sophomore 3.2, and Junior 2.7.
Yea, it means I cannot apply to schools like UC where they have 3.0 requirements.
I got a SAT score of 1360/1600. 600 on English and 760 on Math.
I am planning to take SAT 2 Math level 2 and US history end of this month.
I’m not that smart and I don’t have any AP courses. It sucks.
I tried Precalc honors ab but I dropped out cause the international students are so smart.
I know I have to get my things together before I mess up my senior mid year report again.
I do regret what I did and I want to make best out of what I have right now.
I want to take a shot to four year colleges.
Here’s the list.
Undergraduate
Early Decision - Drexel University: History
University of Illinois at Springfield- History
Washington State at Tri-cities : History
Southwestern University- International studies
Iowa State- History, World languages and culture
Illinois State- History
UNC at Wilmington- History
University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth- Accounting
State University of New York at Albany- Accounting
Suffolk University-Accounting
Utah State University at Park city-Accounting
University of Texas at Tyler- Accounting
University of Wisconsin at Greenbay- History
I am planning to switch majors once I get in because I want to become an accountant or economist.
I have some history related projects done for EC.
Guys I really need help. I want to get into one of them. What should I do…
I think that you have a sensible list of schools to apply to. For example when reading your post I was thinking of suggesting UMass Dartmouth and then I saw you already have it on your list.
I think you should be cautious about applying anywhere ED unless you both (i) will go there for sure if you get in and (ii) can afford to be full pay. With ED you are pretty much telling the school “I want to go there for sure and don’t want any financial aid at all”. EA of course is much less restricting to your options.
I do notice that your schools are pretty much scattered around the country. Are you fine with living anywhere in the US?
I might add: I think that you will do well. As one example your SAT is very strong for many of the schools on your list, and there are schools on your list that I expect will be willing to take a chance on a student who clearly has the potential to do well in spite of a so-so high school GPA. Try to keep your grades up for your senior year of high school.
-Are these schools affordable to you? Have you had the “money talk” to see what your parents can pay? Did you run the net price calculators?
–If you want accounting, then why are you applying as a history major to so many schools? If a school has different admission criteria for the b-school and the liberal arts school then it could be difficult if not impossible to do an internal transfer. Colleges are wise to the game of student applying for an “easier” major and then trying to transfer and often look to shut that avenue down. Just be sure you will be able to study what you want in college.
I don’t expect a free ride to switch majors but I heard that it’s not impossible to switch majors inside college of arts and sciences. (If I get decent GPA).
That’s right, it wouldn’t be hard to change majors within a A&S school, but accounting would be in the business school if you’re really interested in that career. You’ll have a lot more flexibility in majors in the arts and science school so applying to one of those is a good idea. The other option would be to apply to the school that has accounting and minor in economics. Typically it’s easier to get a minor in a program in A&S, vs. minor in the b-school.
What is your home state? Many of the schools you list would not be a great use of out of state tuition fees if there were a comparable school in your state or regional compact.
I agree with post 4, it’s not straightforward to get into business school by switching majors after admission. Be sure to verify this would be possible at each school.
If you struggled with precalc honors, math level 1 subject test is probably more appropriate for you than level 2. Beyond that, with your GPA you are not going to the elite schools that require subject tests so I’m not sure why you are taking them. There is probably a better use of your time.
I thought the subject tests can replace gpa losses at least some way. I dropped out precal honors (finished CP Precal)but if I get a decent score in math level2 the admissions might not consider that I don’t understand precal at all. That was my idea
First of all, stop beating yourself up. Your SAT math is excellent, everything else is what it is roughly average. You did nothing wrong. Stop comparing yourself to other people. Everything is going to be fine. What state do you live in now? Where would you like to live when you graduate? Accounting is often local.
Can you afford private schools? They tend to be more flexible with your current GPA and tend to inflate your college GPA a bit. Sometimes they can be more personal which may benefit you, though if you hate boarding school, perhaps you want to go to a public college. I’m not sure why you are applying to history intending to change majors. Why not apply to what you want to study.
Just saw the history major, with your sat scores, you should apply as a stem major, you’re probably thinking it’s easier to get in as a history major, but most adcoms will see through that.
My parents live in Iowa. We made the list searching at websites like Niche. The counselor guy told me that I can “jump up” to better colleges if I choose a easy major. (I don’t think he is 100% right tho, not sure). Well yea tbh my goal is to get into top 100 colleges but I can give up with that if I can get into accounting major. I’m not confident whether I would get into any top 100 colleges as an accounting major.
OK, so neighboring states do not give discounts for Iowa residents.
However, University of Northern Iowa is not super selective, offers accounting, and has a solid graduation rate (many schools that take kids with low GPAs turn out to have horrible graduation rates, it’s something to watch for). And, if you pass your CPA exam, the CPA after your name will be a lot move important than the name of the school you studied at.
A question to ask yourself is: Do you care more about the major you graduate with or the name of the school on your diploma? Applying as a history major and switching to accounting later is a poor strategy. You should apply to accounting to most of your schools. If you want to apply to a different major at some schools, pick general business. Trying to switch into accounting later will be hard at most universities if you are not admitted to the business school.
The other thing I would suggest looking into is a pre-accounting major at a community college that feeds into one or both of Iowa and Iowa State. This is an excellent way to get into a competitive major at a flagship campus.
I do not think that you would be happy at a top 100 school. You are frustrated and unhappy at a highly competitive boarding school. Why do you want another four years at a highly competitive college?
No, a subject test does not usually “make up for” a poor GPA.
“I dropped out precal honors (finished CP Precal)but if I get a decent score in math level2 the admissions might not consider that I don’t understand precal at all.”
I would strongly recommend that you DO NOT take math level 2 SAT.
On the one hand you already have an excellent score on the math part of the SAT. That implies that you have significant ability in math, and are a lot smarter than you are giving yourself credit for. However, having dropped out of precalc honors plus your high school history make it looks as if you are not ready to do well on the math level 2 SAT test. I think that you are better off applying with the very good SAT score that you already have.
If you are a history major, then you are going to be expected to do a lot of reading and write a lot of papers (in English). I think that you would probably be better off applying and starting as a Math or Accounting major.
I might also note, for many of the schools on your list (which are good schools), 1360 is in fact a very good SAT score.
I don’t expect people to know what their career will be 20 years from now but to answer your questions, you need to share a little bit of your post undergrad grad plans. Do you intend to go into accounting right out of college and then try for a cpa and/or mba or just stay in a corporate accounting position? Are you more interested in econ so you can go into entry-level consulting or finance? You don’t want to put history down because you may have to explain why in an essay. Your best bet would be to apply to a school that doesn’t force you to declare a major or only a particular college, say arts and sciences without needing to declare.
I want to try for CPA. The reason why I’m also interested in Economics is because it is in C&S school which I can get into by history. But I guess the switching plan is not so great.